Santa Fe Council on International Relations

In this excellent interview, I sit with former acting CIA Director Michael Morell to talk about information flows, the challenges of directing the CIA, and so much more...

In this episode, we honor and then hear from our 2019 High School Student of the Year, Lauren Clinton, and then our 2019 College Student of the Year, Diego Romero. Introduced by Tacarra Lake, CIR's Program Officer for Education.

Listen to the brilliant Chris Hill on North Korea, Ukraine, and beyond as the keynote speaker at CIR's 2019 Annual Gala. Following his keynote, CIR's Intern Arielle Mattes interviews him, concluding with an audience Q&A.

In this episode, I speak with the brilliant Rachel Kleinfeld about her most recent book, A Savage Order. How do some countries manage to rise out of a past of great violence -- while others do not?

In this podcast, from the Journalism under Fire stage on December 5th, we present Arbana Xharra (Kosovan investigative journalist), Dr. Courtney Radsch (Advocacy Director for the Committee to Protect Journalists), and Jason Rezaian (correspondent for the Washington Post).

In this pod, we hear about "The Media and the Intelligence Community" through a conversation with Dana Priest (Washington Post) and Valerie Plame (former CIA covert officer). Their brilliant open conversation captures all kinds of fascinating intersections between these two worlds.

This pod features the opening plenary at Journalism under Fire from Dana Priest, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner from the Washington Post. She discusses, "From President Putin to the Santa Fe New Mexican: How Global Censorship Affects Your Life." Her talk is introduced by Valerie Plame.

In late August, I sat with Amb. Vicki Huddleston, Amb. Mark Asquino, and Amb. Pat Hawkins to understand current events at the State Department under newly appointed Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Is there a plan for the apparent global retreat of the US? What;'s happening inside the department? How can we explain the administration's approach to multilateralism? What's the big picture in all of this? What have been the effects of “foreign policy by tweet”?

Last month I had the chance to sit down with the one-and-only Vicki Huddleston to talk about her just released book, Our Woman in Havana. In this podcast, she tells a few stories, including how a 6-year-old boy tipped the 2000 US election...

We have some real heavyweights on this podcast discussing where we are collectively heading in energy – as a globe, a country, a state, and a city. This podcast is the live recording of a panel discussion among Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, and PNM’s Chairman, President, and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn. How can government and the private sector increasingly work together? What should we know about how other countries are approaching their own energy futures? How can we weigh the environmental considerations into any discussion about energy’s future? Tune in to find out!

In this episode, I sit with Dr. Stewart Patrick from the Council on Foreign Relations. I spoke with him about his fascinating new book, The Sovereignty Wars: Reconciling America with the World, the new/old direction of the current administration vis-a-vis sovereignty, and some of the shifting sands around this topic in the global world order.

Just before his dinner speech at Las Campanas Clubhouse, I was able to sit with the extraordinary Dr. Hecker, former director of the Los Alamos National Labs, and a pre-eminent expert on North Korea and its nuclear ambitions. How should President Trump approach the upcoming talks with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un? What will be the effect of a new Secretary of State? What do the North Koreans really want?

In this episode, I sit with Professor Janet Steele, author of the new book Mediating Islam, Cosmopolitan Journalisms in Muslim Southeast Asia. We touch on all kinds of topics - including the very different yet fascinating approaches to journalism in Indonesia - just before Prof. Steele took to the CIR stage for a special luncheon. She is an absolutely fantastic speaker - I think we all learned a tremendous amount from her.

In this episode, I sit with the brilliant Renaissance Man Braden Allenby, a professor from Arizona State University. His December talk on "The Weaponized Narrative" left CIR members speechless - I saw smoke coming out of several ears in his scorching and dark intellectual take on Russian meddling in US electoral processes, fake news, and our social-media-fed echochambers...

In this episode, Stanford University's Martha Crenshaw and I talk all about ISIS, its future, and the many surprises across the Middle East, from Saudi Arabia to Syria to US foreign policy.

In this episode, I sit with Denver University's Prof. Andrea Stanton. In celebration of Human Rights Day 2017, we break down all kinds of issues around Islam and human rights - she has some outstanding observations and insights.

In this episode, I sit with Turkey expert Soner Cagaptay, from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. We discuss all kinds of dynamics currently unfolding in Turkey, from its divided populace to its rationally irrational president.

Just before our Annual Gala on October 20th, I had the opportunity to sit with Amb. Burns, a brilliant thinker and speaker.

As the latest installment in our Broken Border series, I sat with Terry Goddard, the former Attorney General from Arizona. In this episode, we talk about the extreme challenges in a state's enforcement of the border, including the over-emphasis on stopping human migration and little-to-no emphasis on financial flows. Listen in as Terry talks about, among many other things, his efforts to stop cross-border money laundering.

In this episode, I sit with former DEA undercover agent Mike Vigil. We talk about his efforts in infiltrating Mexican cartels, his interactions with some of the most infamous narcotraficantes, whether a border wall might affect the flow of narcotics, and his thoughts on the future of the war against drugs, especially at the US-Mexico border.